Rex Ryan has over the years earned himself mixed credibility as a person and as a leader but he is mostly recognized for his achievements as a football coach for the New York Jets having lead them to victory time after another. He was born in Ardmore Oklahoma back in 1962 and is the son to Doris and Buddy Ryan and twin brother to Rob Ryan all associated with different football teams in the country, and holding different leadership positions at one time or another.
As early as at the age of six, Rex Ryan had already developed a huge interest in football coaching but started out as a player when he was a University student and worked his way through the ranks, from a defensive line coach in 1999, to a defensive coordinator in 2005, then assistant coach in 2008 and finally to head coach in 2009 (Kroessler 286). This development in his career path took place in several teams until he became head coach for the New York Jets.
As a coach and leader, Rex Ryan’s leadership abilities stem from his profound knowledge of the game and his personality. From his knowledge, he is able to lead his team to victories and from his personality he motivates his players to play the best way they can and most importantly to enjoy playing the game. He does not impose on them to perform but this does not mean that they do not because at the end of they day, the players are accountable to themselves, their team mates, their coach and most importantly to their fans. He guides them on how to perform on the pitch and at the same time enjoy the game (Gross para. 8).
He always exudes confidence in his team and talks about them and to them in an enthusiastic manner. This is important for any coach and team leader as it exhibits confidence and appreciation for the team players and motivates them to do better. It also encourages team supporters to stand by their team because when the team leadership is confident about the abilities of his team it translates to confidence on the part of the fans and team members.
Rex Ryan also advocates for cohesiveness between his team members and the team leadership and this encourages flow of communication and in effect ideas. When team leaders are inflexible and overbearing on their team members they are likely to experience rebellion, lack of coordination and lack of commitment from team members which leads to failure for the team as a whole. This kind of failure reflects badly on the team leadership and the abilities of the leaders to lead their team in the achievement of their goals and objectives.
Rex Ryan works with the team and does not take full credit of their performance. That is he acknowledges their input and this helps motivate his players to do even more. He is known for his strictness on team members who do not perform and has often been quoted as saying that as long as one does not perform, then he has no business of being part of the team (Gross para. 8). This does not work well for other people but it is his job as a coach to make a team work and if one or two people are not performing as expected, it is his responsibility to let them know this and in extreme situations let them go.
Ryan Rex has from time to time been followed by controversy especially based on his individual actions but his leadership has seen him earn great recognition and lead his team to success. I believe that his leadership abilities have gone a long way in enabling him accomplish what he has so far as a coach and based on his success I believe he is a good leader. His ability to make right decisions and come up with working plans and strategies for his team has clearly set him apart from other football coaches in the country, both as a leader and as a coach.
Works Cited
Gross, Brandon. “New York Jets Transcript – Head Coach Rex Ryan, 1.25”. 2010. Web.
Kroessler, Jeffrey. The greater New York Sports Chronology. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. Print.